Fam, Marinica part ways
Football Association of Malawi (Fam) has bowed down to pressure as they announced that it will not renew contract for under-fire coach Mario Marinica-probably the worst coach to take charge of the Flames in recent years.
The Romanian, renowned for his fast and very fast football philosophy, will leave his post at the end of his contract on April 30 following miserable results in the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifiers.
“Fam wishes to announce that by mutual consent, it has agreed with Marinica not to enter into negotiations for renewal of his contract as Head Coach of the Flames when it expires on 30th April, 2023.
“Given his mutual understanding, Marinica will proceed on his scheduled annual leave up to 30th April, 2023,’’ reads part of the statement.
His assistants Patrick Mabedi and Franco Ndawa have also been swept aside by the tide.
However, Mabedi is still in charge of the Under-20 side as the government’s employee whereas Ndawa was hired on a temporary basis.
The writing has been on the wall for Marinica since the Flames lost 4-0 to Egypt at Bingu National Stadium on Tuesday-the worst defeat on home soil since 1975 when Malawi lost 6-1 to Zambia.
Marinica was yet to respond to our questionnaire as we went to press yesterday.
While in charge of the Flames, the Romanian has a miserable record of just three wins in 15 matches.
He led the Flames to 2-1 victory over Zimbabwe during the 2021 delayed Afcon finals in Cameroon before a similar result against Ethiopia in the Afcon qualifiers and Mauritius at the 2022 Cosafa Cup in Durban, South Africa.
Under Marinica’s tutelage, the Flames lost six matches to Egypt (twice), Guinea (twice), Lesotho (Cosafa Cup) and Morocco (Afcon).
Some analysts have described Marinica as one the worst foreign coaches Malawi has ever had in the last two decades.
Sports analyst George Kaudza Masina Marinica has failed. “This was obvious. This is the worst Flames coach both local and foreign who brought a strange type of football,’’ he said.
Former Flames midfielder Peterkins Kayira said Marinica’s tenure was disastrous.
“I can describe him as one of those in the category of top foreign failures we have so far engaged in the past two decades,” Kayira said.
But sports analyst Parry Chinyama said there is a lot to be done to improve the standards of Malawi football.
“The attitude of our players towards the national team leaves a lot to be desired. They have no passion for their country,” Chinyama said.
Marinica took over from Meck Mwase who guided the Flames to the 2021 Afcon finals. However, Mwase was demoted before the Afcon finals.
He was later redeployed to the Under-23 national team, a decision which he challenged.
